September 24, 2009

The story told in Shoes Outside The Door may help readers understand the institutional concept that has evolved on this blog. The concept of an interest-free bank and a more integrated way of living has many parallels with Zen.

Selected excerpts and how they relate to the concept currently being described as MindfulWorldBank.org:

...'At
my age, coming to this country, I [Suzuki-Roshi] need a disciple who is
already well prepared. I think an understanding of Western
Transcendentalism would be good preparation,'... [p.62]

I
believe that a basic understanding of all "isms" is necessary before
anyone starts devoting a great deal of time to any practice or
devotion. As I've said before in many different forms, a universal
education has to be the foundation of right living.

"To
this day," says Gary [Snyder], "I'm sure the Japanese are mind-boggled
by the historical accident that American bohemians became the
caretakers of Zen in the West." [p.64]

It should be
noted that the bohemian phase was short-lived. If one had to describe
those individuals featured most prominently in the
book, entrepreneurial comes to mind. They have had remarkable success
in writing -- and selling -- books and ideas or establishing their own
Zen Centers.

"But I [David Padwa] am skeptical about
the overall value or enduring effect of Buddhism on American life," he
says. "America does not seem to me a more compassionate, kinder, safer
place because of it." [p.118]

"At Zen Center, people spend ninety
percent of their time dealing with community issues and not Zen
practice. I think it is not a healthy environment. Maybe a few
generations down the line, if we have worked out how to live together
in a communal way, the teaching will be able to come through that."
Steve [Allen] is basically describing a cart-before-the-horse problem.
By 1972, there were three crowded residential carts that composed the
Zen Center community -- but there was no sangha, no horsepower. "And
today? Even at this point," says Steve, "I really do believe most of
the energy is going into issues of how to live together and not issues
of how to transcend the dualistic framework in which we find ourselves
in ordinary society. And that is what I understand practice is about
-- nondualistic experience and liberation from the normal limitations
of social programming." [p.144]

I'm always thinking
about how to jump-start the institution that has evolved on this blog.
Perhaps a Zen relationship is one way. The goals are very similar and
I address the "issues of how to live together" through a set of rules
-- including abandoning the extremely destructive practice of usury.

"There
are two sides, and they are often at odds," says Norman Fisher, the
sixth Abbot of Zen Center from 1995 to 2000. "On the one hand, Zen
Center's mission is a long-term training center for Zen Buddhist
priests; on the other hand, we are this very wide and expansive
community, where all sorts of people come and go with all points of
view, and the community's agenda is just to benefit the world widely --
forget about Zen Buddhism. This makes it complicated, and it creates
conflicts, and this makes it wonderful." [p.145]

I
think that with the right set of rules we can reduce the complications
and the conflicts. However, we have to help people understand the
complexity that is inherent in our living system. We live in an age
when -- maybe more so than at any other time -- people have a tendency
to be attracted to simple ideologies such as fundamentalist religions
(my book is the right book), technology (will save us from our
profligate ways), and economic systems (free markets, Keynesian
economics, or an oligarchy-directed combination of the two).

"Richard
[Baker] told me [Peter Rudnick] flat out that I would never get ahead
at Zen Center, that I would never hold a position of responsibility if
I didn't show up in zendo every day. I've always believed the farm
work is practice." [p.154]

In the upcoming energy descent, it will be important to make hands-on gardening/farming practice.

"It's gotten all tangled up with role, position, and hierarchy here. Who does that serve?" [Wendy Johnson speaking, p.156]

The
answer is no one. Any healthy institution, in my opinion, has to be
comprised of independent agents operating under a set of rules that are
explicitly understood.

Life on the farm is not a
dream; the farm is the repository for a dream. It preserves a view of
an integrated life -- a safer, slower, simpler way than most Americans
can afford, a way most people do not choose when it is available. It
[Green Gulch Farm] is to Zen Center what Zen Center is to the wider
society -- it doesn't pay its share of taxes, and it requires a lot of
generosity from people who do not seem to receive the most generous
share of the benefits. But for many people, giving up on Green Gulch,
like giving up on Zen Center, would mean giving up. [p.270]

By
integrating the farm with the university, a much more vibrant
institution is created. The structure of MindfulWorldBank.org would
allow patrons to store their wealth rather than donating it. However,
this is an institution that has the capability to be far more
productive than the non-profits that currently compete for excess
wealth.

Those who want to preserve their wealth should understand that current investments -- almost all that exist -- based on the premise (or promise) of unlimited growth are destined to fail.

August 14, 2009

There is as yet no civilized society, But only a society in the process of becoming civilized. There is as yet no civilized nation, But only nations in the process of becoming civilized. From this standpoint, We can now speak of a collective task of humankind. The task of humanity is to build a genuine civilization.

— Felix Adler (1851-1933)

In order to build a genuine civilization, it is critical that we recognize impediments. The key impediment for some time now has been that our system is credit-based. This allows the clever amongst us -- rather than the wise -- to dictate our lives. All we need to do is to shift to an equity system.